Since the release of Steven Spielberg's movie, "AMISTAD," an immense interest in slavery and the slave trade has been unleashed. Accompanying this curiosity are questions raised by the movie, namely, the ethnicity of the Africans and the divisive question of culpability. Who was responsible for the enslavement of millions of Africans in the Americas? Who should be blamed for this crime against humanity? My primary objective here is to give a summary of the history of the Africans of the "Amistad", their historical ordeal in the United States; thier ethnicity, names, and nationality, while offering a comparative explanation on slavery and the slave trade in Africa and the Americans.
One of the first generalities that the viewer of the movie and readers of books on the Amistad encounter is the ethnicity and nationality of these Africans. They are called Mendi in Spielberg's movie and in books on the subject,and in contemporary terms, they are called nationals of the Republic of Sierra Leone. These ethnic and national misidentification were passed on over the years for two reasons: most of the Africans spoke Mendi; and all of them were returned to Sierra Leone, the predominant home of the Mendis, after they were manumitted in the United States. To accept this nomenclature as a fact is analogous to calling British and Germans who speak French, "Frenchmen." This is what happened in the case of Africans of the Amistad, when people of various ethnic backgrounds who spoke a common language, were all called Mendi and subsequently grouped as Sierra Leonans.
In contemporary geographic terms, the Africans of the Amistad did not come from the same country. Moreover, most of them could not have been enslaved in Sierra Leone, because Britain had political control over the region. Since Britain abolished the slave trade in 1809, it had been at the forefront of abolishing this heinous trade, and had not only station war vessels to capture slave vessels along the West Coast of Africa and Sierra Leone, but it had made Freetown, Sierra Leone its operations center. Her Majesty's Government had established courts in Freetown to try persons suspected of engaging in the slave trade. The slave traders knew this and avoided Sierra Leone like the plague.
No one knew this better than the king of the slave trade in West Africa, Don Pedro Blanco and his right hand man, Theodore Canot. To avoid British interference, Don Pedro Blanco established his operations in the Gallinas and other parts of Liberia, which were under the indirect rule of Liberia, and where corrupt Liberian leaders looked the other way, allowing the operations of Blaco to proceed with impunity. One of the areas that Pedro Blanco operated was an island called "Lomboko." Lomboko was located somewhere in the Gallinas, and it was from Lomboko that the Africans of the Amistad embarked on their enfamous journey to the Americas.
In Theodore Canot's book, "A SLAVER'S LOG BOOK OR 20 YEARS' RESIDENCE IN AFRICA," the notorious slave trader said the following about the Gallinas: "...the notorious slave mart of the northwest coast of Africa is a river whose entrance and interior is not navigable but to boats and small crafts...The indigenes of this river, who are called Vey [Vai] were not numerous before the establishment of the Spanish factories, but since 1823 when several ships from Cuba landed their rich cargoes the neighboring cities flocked to this river, and as there is much similarity in their languages, they soon became naturalized with the aborigines of this sandy and marshy soil." It should be pointed out that part of the Gallinas was confiscated by Britain during the "scramble for Africa," but most of the land and the people remain Liberian.
If the central operations of Pedro Blanco was in the Gallinas, and if the indigenous people in this area were Vai, it follows that this was part of Grand Cape Mount County, one of the political subdivisions of Liberia. It is also logical to conclude the following: because the Gallinas was the operations center of Balnco, and since he could not operate in Sierra Leone, he had to get his slaves in the North where the Mendi-Liberians, Kissi-Liberians, Gbandi-Liberians, Lorma-Liberians, and the Mandingo-Liberians resided.
It is important to note that some of these ethnic groups are found across multinational borders. For example, the majority of the Mendi people are found in the Sierra Leone; however, one percent of the Liberian population is Mende. Similarly, the majority of the Lormas are found in Liberia, but there are Lormas in the Republic Guinea, Liberia's neighbor in the north. This multinational-ethnic identity predominates in West Africa, because the colonial powers parceled out the land among themselves, in complete disregard to the permanent separation of ethnic groups and their related families. For example, when Liberia and France delimited their borders along Liberia's boundary with the Ivory Coast in the late nineteenth century, they simply decided that the Cavalla River was the geographic boundary, even though there were Grebos on both sides of the river.
This transnational identity makes the task of determining the nationality of the Amistad captives difficult. One could use the preponderance of an ethnic group in a country, as one of the basis for placing an African in a country like Liberia or Sierra Leone. For example, since the majority of the Mendis live in Sierra Leone, I could group all the Mendis as Sierra Leoneans. In the case of the Mendis, however, this would not be logical since the British maintained control over Sierra Leone, and did not gave breathing room to the slavers. There were instances, however, when I was 99 percent sure that a particular African came from Liberia. The classic example was "Yanquoi" who was reported to have been born near a river called "Zaliba." Zaliba River is near Voinjama, where I was born; consequently, I was sure that Yanquoi's ethnicity was either Gbandi or Lorma, and that if he had lived in contemporary times, he would have been a Liberian. The national distinction is important to make because during this period, the indigenous African people who lived in this region maintained an independent-indigenous identity. They were not Liberians.
To see where the Africans of the Amistad came from, please review the map of Liberia at:The Map of Liberia.
My next task was to determine the exact spelling of many of the names, and locate their hometowns. I accomplished a few, but further research, (which is currently beyond my means) is required to distinctly identify these Africans. The general research that I've done in locating the hometowns and nationality of these Africans, relied on historical documents of the nineteenth century, which had many of the names of the Africans, their hometowns, and villages phonetically misspelled. The generic reference of their hometowns as "Mendi country" made the situation even more problematic, since most of the people were from ethnic groups that had no ethnic relationship with Mendi, like Kissi and Mandingo. I was reassured about the multi-ethnicity of the Africans of the Amistad, when I read the following prayer from one of the Africans: "O ga-wa-wa- bi-a-bi fu-li ba-te-ni." Ga-wa-wa, which should spelled, "Giworgla", which means God; "fuli" means sun; and "bateni" means created. This is the Lorma language.
I will continue to update this page, as I talk to friends and people from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, who can pick up on sound of the names and hometowns of these Africans.
Before getting into the identification of the Africans and the narration of their ordeal, it is important to briefly give a comparative overview of the Atlantic slave trade and African domestic slavery. Domestic African slavery existed before the coming of the Europeans, but it was benign and had a distinct character of its own. In the first place, within certain ethnic groups in the African society, like the Lormas, there is no distinction between the words prisoner and slave. For example, among the Lormas of northern Liberia, especially the Bodays who lived close to the Atlantic coast and participated in the slave trade, there was one word for a prisoner or a slave: "Duai." The duais, who were either prisoners of war or persons who had committed crimes such as adultery, lived and worked in their masters household, and with good behavior, rose within the ranks of the clan of their masters to become leaders, and even marry the master's daughters. Conversely, the relationship between the European slaver and his African slave was based on complete social isolation, and permanent servitude, based on race. I must also add that the enslavement of Africans by people of the Islamic faith added a new dimension to the African slavery, since infidels were viewed as permanent outcast.
Historians have debated the question of culpability of the slave trade. Who was responsible for enslaving and selling million of Africans during a 400-year period. Some people blame the Africans for selling their own people; others blame the Europeans. Even talk show hosts in the United States have taken sides in the this explosive debate. I once had an exchange with former Mayor Ed Koch of New York, (he had his own talk show) who once said that it was the Africans that were to be blamed for selling their people into slavery. Obviously, Mayor Koch did not know about the role of the Catholic Church in the slave trade; he never visited the massive Elmina slave castle in Cape Coast, Ghana, built by the Portuguese in 1482; he never visited Isle de Goree in Senegal. If he had, he would have known that the Atlantic slave trade was planned and executed by European slavers. Even the notorious slave trader, Theodore Canot, noted that he "... had no hesitation in saying that three-fourths of the slaves sent abroad from Africa [were] the fruit of wars fermented by the avarice of the Europeans[and that prior to the coming of the Europeans] slavery was an institution of domestic need and comfort alone." The slave trade was also the responsibility of Christianity, since it was Pope Alexander VI who granted Portugal the right to conquer land and enslave African people from the Azores to West Africa; and Islam which used enslavement as a tool of proselytization.
The six nations that were responsible for promoting the Atlantic slave trade, for their own economic interest, were Portugal, Spain, Netherlands ( the Dutch), France, Britain and the United States. These nations used slave labor to plant and harvest sugar, tobacco, cotton and indigo, and to mine precious metals.
The three key figures in history who promoted the viability of the Atlantic slave trade were Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal; Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator--he brought 500 Indian slaves on his second voyage from the Americas--and Sir John Hawkins of England.
For most of the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal dominated the slave trade, spurred on by its desire to gain access to African gold in the Gold Coast, and African slaves to work on its plantations in the new world, especially Brazil. The Portuguese dominance was guaranteed by a series of papal bulls, which granted Portugal all of West Africa, and the treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal, which made Portugal the supplier of African slaves for Spanish plantations in the new world. From 1451 to 1870, Portugal was reported to have enslaved over 4.2 million Africans through warfare and trading.
Although Spain depended on Portugal for its supply of African slaves, during the early period of the Atlantic slave trade, primarily because it did not have access to the West African coast and because it did not have the merchant fleet to do the job--Spanish slavers also enslaved a substantial number of Africans. By 1835, when Spain abolished the slave trade, it had over one million Africans slaves working on plantations in Cuba and Central America.
The Dutch entered the slave trade, after Portugal had been weakened during the "Eighty Year War" (1568-1648). Amsterdam became the financial center of the world, financing the slave trade and commerce. Most of the gold that the Dutch used to build the Bank of Amsterdam was obtained from Africa, especially in Gold Coast. Slaves captured or bought were taken to its territories in Curacao, St. Croix, and Surname. By 1803, estimates are that the Dutch had exported from Togo, Dahomey and the Gold Coast, over half a million Africans to its territories in the Americas.
When Louis XIII authorized French participation in 1642, France became the next country to enter the trade in human cargo. French slavers captured and purchase Africans from West Africa, and transported them to its colonies in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Dominique, and French Guinea to work on sugar plantations.
England was the next country that entered the slave trade when Sir John Hawkins visited Sierra Leone. In Sir George Tucker's "A Dissertation on Slavery," the following method was revealed on how several hundred Africans were enslaved. "In the year 1562 [Sir John Hawkins] set sail for Africa, and in a few week arrived in a country called Sierra Leone, where he began his commerce with the Negroes. While he trafficked with them, he found the means of giving them a charming description of the country to which he was bound; the Africans listened to him with apparent joy and satisfaction, and seemed remarkably fond of his European trinkets and clothes. He... promised if any of them were weary of their miserable circumstances, and would go along with him, he would carry them to a plentiful land, where they should live happy, and receive and abundant recompense for their labours. In short the Negroes were overcome by flattering promise, and three hundred stout fellows accepted his offer, and consented to embark along with him." When the vessel anchor in England, the Africans were enslaved and Sir John Hawkins was awarded the knighthood, by Elizabeth I. By 1807, when England abolished the slave trade, English slave traders were reported to have captured and purchase 2.8 million Africans from Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Windward Coast (Liberia, Ivory Coast), Gold Coast, Benin, Nigeria, Congo, Mozambique, and Angola.
The United States sanctioned the slave trade after independence, but outlawed it in 1807. Despite its prohibition, hundreds of thousands of Africans were captured and sent to the United States, primarily by Portuguese,Spanish, and French, and slavers.
These historical explanations do not absolve the Africans of crime against humanity. The fact is that there were evil African rulers who aided and abetted with the European slavers in carrying out wars against other Africans. One of the most notorious African slavers live right in Liberia. His name was Sao, (a.k.a, King Boatswain). This Mandingo king, who was Moslem, had no use for infidels. He raided towns and villages over a 300 mile distance, and sold his victims into slavery. The battle cry among the black Moslems in West Africa, toward infidels or "Caffre" was: "Stand and you are a slave; run and you are a corpse."
Kidnapping therefore, as it has been been demonstrated in Spielberg's movie, "Amistad", was not the norm in the enslavement of the African people. The massive enslavement of the Africans was accomplished through wars and entrapment, planned and carried out by European slave traders. For example, the Congolese King Mbemba Nzinga (1506-1543), who had befriended the Portuguese King Manuel, on the basis that his people would be converted to Christianity, once complained to a Portuguese king, about the constant raiding of African villages by Portuguese slavers, who were in the Congo, disguised as legitimate merchants.
This is a daguerreotype of Former President John Quincy Adams, as he appeared in 1848.
Former President John Quincy Adams of the United States (1825-1829). His record on slavery and the slave trade was not particularly impressive. He was not an abolitionist. In fact, he considered the abolitionists, 'fanatics," and called their publications, "inflammatory newspapers"; while some of the abolitionists called him the "madman of Massachusetts." In his journals, he wrote that, "the abolitionists generally are constantly urging me to indiscreet movements, which would ruin me, [but] my wife and son...exercise all the influence they possess to restrain and divert me from all connection with abolitionists and with their cause."
In 1820, when Secretary of the Treasury, William H. Crawford of Georgia, and other colonizationist petitioned him to help purchase the freedom of 40 Africans who were about to be sold in Georgia, he refused to contribute one red penny, and the Africans were subsequently sold into slavery. In his diary, [please read: "The diary of John Quincy Adams, 1794-1845" edited by Allan Nevins] his motivation in refusing to help appeared to be political. His major rival for the presidency at the time was William H. Crawford.
During his presidency, a similar case, like the "Amistad" came before the United States Supreme Court, called the "ANTELOPE." Although 120 of the Africans were released from prison and sent to Liberia, under a decree of the United States Supreme Court, 37 others were enslaved, because: (1) the United States Government refused to raise the necessary funds (about $11,700) to purchase the freedom of the Africans; and (2) because President Adams signed a petition passed by Congress, which cancelled a court-ordered bond that required the 37 enslaved Africans be removed from the United States, thereby allowing the Africans to be enslaved in the United States. The bond was to be forfeited if the Africans were not removed from the United States in six months. Additionally, during his presidency, his Secretary of State, Henry Clay, refused to consummate a treaty with Britian, which could have allowed the mutual search of slave vessels flying the American or British flags. Henry Clay also attempted to consummate a fugitive slave treaty with Britain, which was rejected. He insisted that Britain pay for slaves that were removed from the United States during the War of 1812. In 1831, he wrote in his diary, that as chairman of the Committee of Manufacturers, in the United States House of Representatives, he opposed the petition to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, because the discussion of the abolition of slavery would create animosity among the members of the House. Additionally, while serving as Secretary of State in the Monroe Administration, he opposed the mutual "right of search" by American and British naval vessels which were engaged in the interception of slave vessels flying the British or American flag. His opposition was purely on political grounds. His political opponent in the cabinet, Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, was a colonizationist who supported the proposal. This "right of search" which was finally granted by President Abraham Lincoln, played a pivotal role in the suppression of the slave trade. Despite this record, John Quincy Adams brilliantly represented the Africansin the Supreme Court.
John Forsyth---Secretary of State in the Martin Van Buren Government. He was former Minister to Spain, and believed that the Africans were property, and should be turned over to the Spanish Government. He was former Governor of Georgia.
Felix Grundy---United States Attorney General. He was from Tennessee, and believed that the Africans were the property of their Spanish captors.
Judge Andrew T. Judson--was judge of the District Court in New Haven. During his incumbency as prosecutor, he unsuccessfully prosecuted one Ms Prudence Crandell, for admitting African-American children in her school.
Arthur Tappan--a staunch white abolitionist; he and his brother Lewis, took up the case for the Africans. He owned a dry goods store in new York. In 1832, he bought land in New Haven to build a college for African-Americans; and he paid the legal fees for Ms Prudence Crandell. His mother was the grandniece of Benjamin Franklin.
Lewis Tappan--brother of Arthur. He was the first to come to the rescue of the Africans, while his brother was away in England. He was a former member of the American Colonization Society.
Joshua Leavitt--a white abolitionists, and member of the COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE AFRICANS OF THE AMISTAD. He was editor of the "Emancipator," the abolitionist newspaper.
Simeon Jocelyn--a white abolitionist, and member of the COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE AFRICANS OF THE AMISTAD. He was pastor of the African-American church in New Haven.
William Jay--a white abolitionist, and anti-colonizationist. He wrote the book, "Inquiry into the Character and Tendency of the American Colonization, and American Antislavery Societies," in 1838, in which he condemned the ACS's plan to solve the race problem in the United States, by deporting all free African-Americans out of the United States. He was a member of the COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE AFRICANS OF THE AMISTAD, and was the son of John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States.
Roger Baldwin--chief defense counsel for the Africans of the AMISTAD. His father was former Governor of Connecticut.
Theodore Sedwick--one of the white attorneys representing the Africans of the AMISTAD. He was the son of a New York lawyer.
Seth Staples--one of the white attorneys representing the Africans of the AMISTAD.
Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney---commander of the schooner "Washington," and a resident of South Carolina. He was on duty surveying and mapping the coast of New York, when he encountered the Amistad. He filed a case claiming, "salvage rights" on the vessel. During this period of American history, and under international maritime laws, a captor of a legally seized vessel was entitled to "salvage costs."
Lieutenant Richard W. Meade----assistant to Lieutenant Gedney. He was born in Spain to an American father; lived in Spain for ten years and spoke Spanish. He served as interpreter to the Spanish slavers.
United States Marshal Norris Wilcox, Marshal of the District of Connecticut---supervised the Africans while they were in prison.
Dr., Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet---founder of the school for the deaf and dumb; helped to establish communication with the Africans.
Dr. Robert Madden---He was a member of the British Antislavery Society in Cuba; he gave a deposition in the AMISTAD case.
The Justices of the United States Supreme Court who presided over the case were:Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice, was from Maryland; Joseph Story, gave the decision in the AMISTAD case; John Mclean, was from Ohio; Henry Baldwin, was from Pennsylvania; James M. Wayne, was from Georgia, and was a slave holder; Philip P Barbour, was from Virginia; John Catron, was from Tennessee; John McKinly was from Alabama; and Smith Thompson.
These were the slave names given to the Africans of the AMISTAD, by their Spanish captors: Joseph Cinquez, Jose, Pedro, Martin, Manuel, Andres, Eduardo, Antonio, Simon, Lucas, Caledonio, Bartolo, Ramon, Agustin, Evanisto, Casimiro, Melchior, Gabriel, Santorion, Escolastico, Pascual, Estanislao, Desiderio,Nicolo, Esteban, Tomas, Cosme, Luis, Julian, Federico, Salustiano, Celestinoa, Ladislao, Epifaneo, Tubercio, Venducio, Felipe, Hipolito, Venito, Isidoro, Vicinte, Dionisio, Apoloneo, Esequiel, Leon, Julio, Zenon, and Hipolito.
According to the testimony of the Africans coupled with historical accounts of court documents, the Africans of the AMISTAD came from six ethnic groups, that are currently located in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Judging from their names, and their hometowns, their ethnicity included: Mendi, Vai, Gissi, Gbandi, Lorma, and Mandingo.
In documenting the identity of the Africans, part of the time was used to translate the meaning of the names of the Africans. In this process, James Covey, the Kissi interpreter, relied on the "sound" of the names as a basis of his interpretation. This method is misleading and outright wrong. Let's assume that your name sounded like, the past tense of the word eat, and the number "eight," that's "ate" and "eight;" or let's assume that your name sounded like:"bail" and "bale," what would be the meaning? It obviously would depend on the spelling and not the sound. This is exactly what happens when many Africans who do not know the exact spelling of a name, try to use the sound of the name as a basis of the meaning of that name. In the case of James Covey, the Kissi interpreter, he interpreted "Teme's" name--which should have have been spelt as "Tainee" --as a "frog." Covey did not only miss the prefix, "Tai" which sounds like the word "chicken," but he missed the actual meaning of the word. The word "tai" has two meaning: it could mean "to raise" or it could refer to a chicken. After consulting some of the Lorma people who live in the United States, I found out that the actual meaning of the word "Tainee," means "to raise to a higher level." Consequently, when these historical documents are studied, caution must be taken, especially by African-American brothers and sisters who may want to adopt some of the names.
Teme--a girl; (4 ft, 3 in); was between the ages of seven to nine. Her name was probably "Tainee." The name is literally described as a "frog" in the nineteenth century historical documents by James Covey, the Kissi interpreter. The meaning of "Tainee" is "to raise to a higher level." Tainee would have been geographically located in Liberia. After her freedom, she changed her name to Maria and worked with the missionaries in Sierra Leone.
Kague--(4 ft, 3 in) girl; she was probably Vai; she would have been geographically located in Liberia.
Margui--4 feet, 3 inches girl; the spelling should probably be "Margai;" She was a little Mendi girl, and would been located in Sierra Leone. After her freedom, she returned to the United States and attended four years of college at Oberlin College, where she graduated and returned to Sierra Leone to work with the missionaries. Her son by her second marriage attended Fisk University and Yale Divinity School in the 1870s, but died before he returned to Sierra Leone.
SINE-GBE--- was the African name of "joseph cinquez." This is a lithograph of Saygbe which appeared in the 1839 issue of the "New York Sun." His name was probably "SAYGBE." This is a common name among the Mendi, Gbandi, and Lormas. He was Mendi, and was born in a town that was ten days walk from Lomboko, the slave factory that was located in Sierra Leone. In contemporary terms, he would have been in Sierra Leone. After his freedom, he returned to Sierra Leone with the other Africans, and got into major confrontation with the missionaries who brought them back home. He was falsely accused by some of the missionaries of engaging in the slave trade, although the only crime he had committed was to engage in polygamy, an act that was abhorred by the missionaries. In his letter to Lewis Tappan, Missionary James Steele indicated that, many of the Africans "had rushed into their former licentious habits." Saygbe returned to Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1879, where he died.
GI-LA-BA-RU (GRAB-EAU)--- was second in command to Saygbe. The exact spelling of this name requires additional research. He indicated that his home was two months walk from the coast, and that he was kidnapped while travelling to Gbandi country to buy some clothes. In contemporary times this would have placed him in Liberia.
Kimbo--was Mendi. He counted as follows: one, eta; two, fili; three, kiau-wa; four, nae-ni. He was 5 ft. 6 in. tall. He was Mendi.
NAZHA-U-LU--was reported to be Mandingo. He was 5 ft. 4 in. tall. In contemporary terms, he would have either been in Liberia or Guinea.
BURNA---was Timmani. He would have been in Sierra Leone.
GNAKWOI--He was born in (Kong-go-lahung), a town near Zaliba River. The spelling of this name should be Yanquoi. Zaliba River is in Lofa county, Liberia. This would have placed Yanquoi in Liberia.
KWONG---was probably from Mendi country.
FU-LI-WA--this name is definitely Lorma or Gbandi. In the historical documents, the meaning of "fuli" is given as "sun" which is what the Lormas called it, and "wa" should be "wala," which means large. This placed him in Liberia.
P-IE---was Timmani. This placed him in Sierra Leone.
PU-GNWAW-NI----historical documents indicate that his body was tattooed and that his teeth was filed. This places him in Kissi country, and Liberia.
SES-SI--The correct spelling of this name should have been "Zaza." he was reported to be born in Gbandi country. Consequently, he was either Lorma or Gbandi. In contemporary times, he would have been a Liberian.
NDAM-MA--was reported to be MENDI. he would have been in Sierra Leone.
FULIWULU--this name sounds like, "behind the sun." He was probably Lorma.
BA-U---was reported to be MENDI.
BA---can probably be placed in the KISSI, LORMA, or GBANDI nation. He reported that lots of country cloth was manufactured in his country. In contemporary times, he would have been in Liberia.
SHULE---was either MENDI or KISSI. He was reported to be the oldest person in the group.
KALE---literally interpreted means a strong man. He was either GBANDI or LORMA. He said that he travelled for two months before he reached the coast. In contemporary times, he would been a Liberian. After his freedom, he changed his name to George Lewis, and worked with the missionaries in Sierra Leone
KIN-NA---should probably be "Heneh." I have a Gbandi friend who lives in Minnesota, with this same name. In contemporary times, he would have been in Liberia. After his freedom, he changed his name to Lewis Johnson, and assisted in the missionary work in Sierra Leone.
NDZHA-GNAW-NI--the literal interpretation of his name, given in the historical documents is "water bird." The suffix, "GNAWNI" sounds like bird, but the actual meaning has to be researched. He would have probably been placed in Liberia
Moru--should have been spelt as "Molu." He was reported to be born in Gbandi country. He was either Gbandi or Lorma, and would have been geographically placed in Liberia.
Sa--should have been spelt as "Saar." He was a Gissi man. He would have been a Liberian.
Bang-ye-ah--was reported to have been born in "Du-gau-na." His name should have spelt as "Beyan," and the was probably "Duogomai," close to Voinjama. This would have placed him in Liberia.
Fakinna--reported that he was captured by Mendi men. He was probably Mandingo. This would have placed him in Liberia. He would have been a Liberian. After his freedom, he changed his name to Alexander.
Faginna--was probably Mandingo.He would have been a Liberian.
Yaboy--should have been spelt as, "Jaboi." he was probably Lorma or Gbandi.
Fabanna--needs further reserch.
Tsukama--should have probably been spelt as, "ZUKAMAI."
Berri--needs further research. He claims he was born in "Sun-ga-ru"
Fawni--the name of his King was Kabandu.
Burnah--the younger twin; should have been spelt as "Borneh." He was Gbandi. That places him in Liberia.
Burnah-twins. The elder, had a cast in the eye, was definitely Gbandi.
Shuma--should have been spelt as "Ziamah," since the interpretation given by James Covey was "falling water." Actually, the name literally interpreted means, "on top of the water." He was Lorma. That would have placed him in Liberia.
----Friday, June 28, 1839---a crew consisting of 5 whites: Ramon Ferrer, owner of the schooner Amistad; Pedro Montes, owner of the three African girls; Jose Ruiz, owner of 49 African men; two Spanish sailors, Manuel Pagilla and Yacinto; Selestina, the cook; and a cabin boy boy named Antonio, left Cuba, and sailed for the island of Puerto Principe, with 49 African slaves.
----Late on Tuesday night, July 2, 1839, the Africans rose up, and killed Ramon Ferrer, and Selestina the cook, and took control of the Amistad. The two sailors jumped ship and were never seen again.
----On Monday morning, August 26, 1839--two sea captains, Henry Green and Paletiah Fordham, were out bird hunting on Long Island, around Montauk, when they encountered Saygbe and the other Africans. Saygbe offered to pay Green in gold if he could obtain provisions and sail the Amistad to Africa. Green agreed, but was only trying to double-cross the Africans so that he could collect salvage on the Africans and the vessel. While Saygbe was negotiating with Green, Lieutenant Gedney of the United States Brigantine Washington came and arrested the Africans, and took them to New London, Connecticut.
----On Thursday, August 29, 1839--first judicial hearing on board the Brigantine Washington, in New London, Connecticut. Don Pedro Montes and Jose Ruiz brought charges of murder and piracy against Saygbe and the other Africans. The Africans were subsequently indicted.
----September 19, 1839--since all criminal cases were held in circuit courts, the Amistad case was convened before Justice Smith Thompson. Justice Thompson ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction in the case, since the charges of murder and piracy were not committed in American waters. He ruled that the property claims be settled in the District Court. Judge Andrew Judson immediately convened the District Court , after the Circuit court adjourned. Judge Judson ruled that the Africans be removed out of the common jail, since they were no longer been detained on criminal charges.
----Saturday, October 19, 1839---District Court met to determine if the court had jurisdiction in the case. The courts jurisdiction was confirmed.
----January 10, 1840--after all the court arguments, Judge Judson ruled that: 1) Lt. Gedney was entitled to one third the value of the Amistad; 2) that the Amistad should be delivered to the Spanish Government after Gedney received payment; and 3) that the Africans were not slave or Spanish subjects, and that they should be turned over to the American Government, so that they would transported back to their country. All other claims against the Africans were thrown out, and the ruling was upheld by the Circuit Court. The conclusion of the ruling stated the following: "It is decreed that the said Africans now in the custody of said Marshal, and libelled and claimed as aforesaid, (excepting Antonio Ferrer) be delivered to the President of the United States by the Marshal of the district of Connecticut, to be by him transported to Africa..."
----The case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, by the United States Government in April 1840. The Justices agreed to hear the case in January, 1841.
----On Tuesday, March 9, 1841-- After all was said and done, Justice Joseph Story read the verdict of the Supreme Court, which reversed the lower court ruling, which had ordered that the Africans be turned over to the United States Government to be transported to Africa. The court unconditionally free all the Africans. The conclusion of the decree read as follows: "Upon the whole, our opinion is, that the decree of the Circuit Court, affirming that of the District Court, ought to be affirmed, except so far as it directs the Negroes to be delivered to the President, to be transported to Africa, in pursuance of the act of the 3rd of March, 1819; and, as to this, it ought to be reversed: and that the said Negroes be declared to be free, and be dismissed from custody of the court, and go without day." (Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress)
---On Saturday November 27, 1841, Saygbe and the other Africans left the United States for Sierra Leone on the vessel Gentleman. The missionaries who accompanied them included: Mr. Steel, Mr. Raymond, and Mr. Wilson. Before the Africans left, they purchased a Bible and decided to personally present it to President Adams, as a token of appreciation for his legal assistance. He refused to meet the Africans, but reportedly cherished the gift for the rest of his life. The Africans presented the Bible as a gift, because many of them had been proselytized to Christianity by the abolitionists. In converting the Africans of the Amistad to Christianity, the objective of the abolitionists was to use them as missionaries, when they returned to their hometowns.
The New York Tribune reported that, in Sierra Leone, the British Governor, Sir George Macdonald, advised Mr. Steel to accompany Saygbe, as he traveled in the interior in search of his town and his people.
On the outset, Spielberg must be congratulated for bringing to life one of the darkest chapters in human history,--the slave trade and servitude, and the universal human instinct to seek freedom. No other film, in the annals of film making, comes close to this ugly spectacle of human suffering.
However, I have a few quarrels with the film, which is research related, and in no way takes away the essential merits of the film:
One of the most memorable-historical events of the Amistad that was excluded from Spielberg's film, was the hearing for a writ of habeas corpus, to have the three little African girls (Tainee, Kargue, and Margai) released from the Hartford, Connecticut prison. This is a direct quote from court papers: "The Court room was crowded with spectators, whose countenances evinced a deep interest in the expected proceedings. The Marshal brought into Court three interesting little African girls, in obedience to the writ of habeas corpus. They were evidently in great fear, all of them weeping, and clasping with a determined grasp, the hands of the jailor, who came into Court with them, with the offer of some fruit; but they refused it."
As a member of the Lorma ethnic group, I found it unsavory, when all the Africans of the Amistad were called Mendi, a nineteenth century nomenclature that disregarded the Vai, Gbandi, Lorma, Kissi, and Mandingo, who were part of the ordeal. To look at this analogously, think of a group of Europeans composed of French, British, and Dutch citizens, who were involved in an ordeal, being lumped together as British. Would they take this ethnic reference lightly? Obviously not. Additionally, by referring to all the Africans as Mendi, the extent of the slave trade is minimized to the Atlantic coast, the area occupied by the Mendis. By identifying the Gbandis, Lormas, Kissi, and the Mandingos, as members of the Amistad, I discovered that the slave trade was not a phenomenon restricted to the coastal plains of Liberia and Sierra Leone. The slavers extended their activity as far as 300 miles in the interior.
Additionally, in Spielberg's movie and in Alexs Pate's novel and the screenplay by David Franzoni and Steven Zaillian, Sengbe is called a lion killer. A little more research would have shown that lions are not native to West Africa, they are found in East Africa. The reference should have been "Leopard killer."
The historical documents that do not indicate that an African-American (like the role played by Morgan Freeman) played a key role in the defense of the Africans of the Amistad.
There is also dispute among some historians regarding the claim that President John Quincy Adams ever met Saygbe and the other Africans. Even when Roger Baldwin and the other abolitionists asked President Adams to meet the Africans so that they could present him a Bible as a token of appreciation for his legal services, he refused.
Finally, Speilberg used "kidnapping" to demonstrate the brutal method used by Africans to enslave their own people. The kidnapping of Saygbe reinforced the inaccurate and traditional view that the Africans were solely responsible for the enslavement of their people. History shows it was civil wars engineered by European slavers, and entrapment concocted by European slavers that were the most widely and effective methods used to enslave the African people.
The Bible that was presented to John Quincy Adams by the Africans of the Amistad, called the "Mende Bible," was stolen from the Adams National Historic Site, in Quincy, Massachusettes, in November 1996. On March 25, 1998, U.S. Attorney Donald Stern returned the Bible, after it had been recovered from a 42 year-old suspect named Kevin Gilday.
The Department of Economic and Community Development, an agency of the State of Connecticut, has funded $2.5 million to reconstruct the vessel "Amistad." In 1997, the Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company also committed $300,000 to the project. When completed in the year 2000, the vessel will reportedly be used as, "an educational ambassador, teaching lessons of history, cooperation and leadership to Americans of all ages..." using the lessons in the Amistad incident as a framework. During the construction of the vessel, it is estimated that 425,000 people will visit the construction site annually.
The website can be accessed at www.amistadamerica.org/mystic.seaport.html.
United States Supreme Court, United States Reports, Volume 38-42
Slavery: A Collection of Pamphlets in the New York Public Library,"Circuit Court of the United States:District of Connecticut" Reel #13.
A History of the Amistad,compiled by John Barber, 1840; also reprinted by Arno Press, 1969.
Martin, Christopher.The Amistad Affair,1970.
Argument of John Quincy Adams before the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of the United States, appellants,vs. Cinque, and others, Africans, captured in the Schooner Amistad.Reprinted by Negro University Press, 1969, A Division of Greenwood Publishing Corp., New York.
The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1790-1845. Edited by Allen Nevins, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1951. Clark, Bennett Champ.
John Quincy Adams. "Old Man Eloquent," Little, Brown, and Company, 1932.
To obtain your copy please call toll free at:888-795-4274 or 215-923*4686. You can also write, Xlibris Coporation, 436 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa, 19113. Xlibris delivers by UPS, consequently, no PO boxes are accepted. To order online, please go to: Order Book Online
For additional information on the slave trade, please go to the page, "ANTELOPE," and read about another Supreme Court case. This one is called--"Antelope." This was the ordeal of 281 African slaves who were recaptured in 1820, along the Florida Coast, and spent a considerable period of time in the United States as prisoners.
History & Government of the Liberian people
A Day in the life of an indigenous-Liberian village.
Experiences of Liberians Studying and Working Overseas.
Current News from Liberia, presented by "STAR RADIO." STAR RADIO is an independent radio station in Liberia, which is managed by Swiss NGO Foundation Hirondelle, and financed by the United States Agency for International Development, through the International Foundation for Elections Systems. The station began transmitting news since July 15, 1997 on FM 104 MHz in English, Liberian English, French, Bassa, Dey, Gbande, Gola, Grebo, Lorma, Kissi, Kpelle, Khran, Kru, Mandingo, Mano, and Vai.
British Broadcasting Service:--Focus on Africa.
Amnesty International: Documents on the Liberian -Civil War
Liberian Embassy, Washington, D.C.
Cuttington University College.
Liberian Connection.
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